Traditional Chinese Architecture: Twelve Essays
448
Traditional Chinese Architecture: Twelve Essays
448eBook
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Overview
A groundbreaking book by one of the world's leading historians of Chinese architecture
Translated by Alexandra Harrer.
Fu Xinian is considered by many to be the world's leading historian of Chinese architecture. He is an expert on every type of Chinese architecture from every period through the nineteenth century, and his work is at the cutting edge of the field. Traditional Chinese Architecture gathers together, for the first time in English, twelve seminal essays by Fu Xinian. This wide-ranging book pays special attention to the technical aspects of the building tradition since the first millennium BC, and Fu Xinian's signature drawings abundantly illustrate its nuances.
The essays delve into the modular basis for individual structures, complexes, and cities; lateral and longitudinal building frames; the unity of sculpture and building to create viewing angles; the influence of Chinese construction on Japanese architecture; and the reliability of images to inform us about architecture. Organized chronologically, the book also examines such topics as the representation of architecture on vessels in the Warring States period, early Buddhist architecture, and the evolution of imperial architecture from the Tang to Ming dynasty. A biography of Fu Xinian and a detailed Chinese-English glossary are included.
Bringing together some of the most groundbreaking scholarship in Chinese architectural history, Traditional Chinese Architecture showcases an uncontested master of the discipline.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781400885138 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Princeton University Press |
| Publication date: | 05/30/2017 |
| Series: | The Princeton-China Series , #8 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 448 |
| File size: | 40 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Traditional Chinese Architecture
Twelve Essays
By Fu Xinian, Nancy S. Steinhardt, Alexander Harrer
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Copyright © 2017 Princeton University PressAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4008-8513-8
CHAPTER 1
Representations of Architecture on Vessels of the Warring States Period
The period of the Warring States takes its name from seven major and some dozen additional polities that vied for power between 475 and 221 BCE when they were unified by China's First Emperor, Shi Huangdi, who established the Qin dynasty in 221. Each state or kingdom had its own ruler and its own capital. Bronze casting had emerged in China in the second millennium BCE. In the Warring States period, bronze and iron were crucial for weapons and other elements of warfare, but these were only a tiny portion of bronze objects in use at the time. In the Warring States period, most ritual bronzes were decorated, often with narrative scenes, and architecture frequently is the backdrop for those scenes. From this period when monumental architecture survives only in the form of tombs and excavation sites, the representations on bronze vessels are some of the earliest evidence of Chinese architecture.
Ancient texts tell of prosperous Warring States capitals and their beautiful palaces. Many ruins of fortified cities and high-rising building foundations from the period are extant, and their vast dimensions are consistent with historical records. However, most Warring States buildings combined earth and wood, so that it was almost impossible for them to survive the continuous warfare of the period or later natural destruction. None survives today.
A great number of large-scale architectural sites from the Warring States period have been excavated. Many are characterized by high foundations for multistory buildings; others clearly were single-story. The ruins allow us to understand certain aspects of building technology, particularly the feature known as taixie (high platform), whereby a wooden frame was built around an earthen core to provide support from underground for a tall structure. But excavation sites do not tell us what buildings looked like. However, bronze vessels with representations of architecture on them were discovered at some of the excavation sites. The combined study of their visual imagery with on-site information provides important clues about Warring States architecture. This essay is a discussion and comparative analysis of eleven bronze vessels that offer important information about Chinese architecture of the fifth through third centuries BCE.
Representations of Architecture on Warring States Bronze Vessels
Images of architecture are represented in bronze in the Shang (ca. 1600–1046) and Western Zhou (1046–770) dynasties and in larger numbers in the Warring States period. They are categorized here according to the technique used in the representation: mozhu (molding and casting), qiancuo (inlaying), zanzao (engr aving), and kehua (incising). The first two techniques are quite simple; the latter two are more sophisticated.
MOLDED AND CAST IMAGES
Two examples are especially important. The first is a wine vessel with a scene of food offering in the Palace Museum, Taibei (fig. 1.1). A two-story building stands on a platform made of stone blocks or timber joists on the outer sides and vertical columns of stone or wood evenly spaced between them, dividing the platform into twelve small compartments. Wooden balustrades approached by steps are on the sides. The first story of the building has three columns that form two bays. The upper parts of the columns bulge outward, suggesting the use of cap-blocks (ludou); longitudinal lintels (mei) are installed above, and further above are crossbeams or transverse floor joists (diban longgu) that, in turn, carry the longitudinal floor joists (dimianfang) and floor planks. Sloping "waist eaves" (yaoyan) project from all four sides of the building, and above are the balustrades of the second story. This upper story has columns only under the eaves on the front and rear sides. Cap-blocks are indicated at the column tops. The image abruptly ends here, and the roof is not depicted. The first and second stories of the building each have two entries: two double-shutter doors at the lower level and a single- and a double-shutter door at the upper level. On both floors, some people offer food whereas others are seated and drink. As a whole, the image illustrates a twostory timber frame building erected atop a platform with waist eaves installed at the top of the lower floor. The design probably corresponds to a wooden framework erected around a rammed-earth core to prevent the building from falling down. The doors probably were made of stiles (biankuang, vertical frame members), rails (motou, horizontal frame members), and panels in between.
The second bronze wine vessel has scenes of feasting and hunting. The upper part of the vessel's surface is divided into two pictorial panels, each of which has one building, divided by a decorative panel (fig. 1.2). The upper panel illustrates an architectural framework for ritual archery and mulberry picking. The building where the archery takes place is small and directly on flat ground. It has two eaves columns with cap-blocks and brackets or braces to support the roof. Single incisions indicate that the roof has a central flat top framed by downward-sloping eaves.
The lower panel is backdrop for a feast, probably a ceremonial celebration. It takes place in a building elevated on a high platform. A long flight of stairs leads to the platform on top of which one figure hunts and those in the center of the hall offer wine in a horn cup. A tray with wine vessels is next to them. The building above has only two eaves columns (only one of which is shown in the drawing) crowned with brackets parallel to the wall plane and straight wooden strips that join two pieces of purlins together (timu) to uphold the roof. The roof has diagonally sloping eaves at the front, back, and two sides with a flat top in the center. Under the platform musicians play drums and bells are suspended. A figure on the staircase that leads to the first floor probably holds a spear. In addition to the buildings represented, this vessel is important because it has a very early example of a building elevation.
INLAID IMAGES
Again we look at two examples. One is in the Palace Museum, Beijing. The second is the most famous example of a Warring States period bronze vessel with pictorial planes on which architecture is represented. It was excavated in Chengdu, Sichuan province, in 1965 and is in the Sichuan Provincial Museum in Chengdu. Like the vessels discussed above, it is of the type hu, used for wine. Five details of architecture on the two vessels are shown in figure 1.3.
The vessel now in the Palace Museum (figs. 1.3-1, -2) has a scene of feasting and a smaller one for ritual archery. Both have foundation platforms shown as two thin horizontal bands of rectangles. Bronze vessels, perhaps of the type known as ding that can be supported by three or four legs, are shown to the right below the platform. Chimes are set up to their left, and bells are farther left. The instruments may be jade or bronze and are supported on wooden frames. The building above is one story. Columns are positioned under the eaves but not inside. The pillars support two differently sized rectangles that form a trapezoidal shape that denotes cap-blocks with brackets or timu to support the roof above. The roof has four downward-sloping sides with a flat top that consists of two thin horizontal bands of rectangles probably intended to show the wooden roof frame. Inside the hall a figure pours wine from a hu into a drinking vessel and another figure offers wine to yet another one; two human figures standing under the eaves on each side are about to enter the hall. The drinking vessels are shown in cross-section so that the viewer sees the level to which they are filled (fig. 1.3-1). The architecture for the ritual shooting also has bracket clusters atop columns and a roof with overhanging eaves (fig. 1.3-2).
Three buildings are shown on the vessel unearthed from a tomb in Baihuatan, Chengdu: one for feasting and two for ritual shooting (fig. 1.3-3 through -5). The banquet hall has two stories. Bracket sets on top of eaves columns support the upper story. Two thin horizontal bands denote the floor above the columns. The second story also has only eaves columns. Single-step bracket sets are on top of them. On this second floor, vessels are on stands. A figure holding a spear stands under one eave and a figure on the other side holds a sword. On the lower floor, bells and chimes are played. The buildings with scenes of ritual shooting have only eaves columns to support the roof; one of them has column-top bracket sets. The roofs of all the buildings have flat tops framed by downward-sloping eaves. The curved line on the lower level of figure 1.3-5 designates a structure within the larger building, perhaps something like a tent.
ENGRAVED IMAGES
An oval-shaped bronze cup from the Warring States period in the Shanghai Museum has three images of architecture, two inside and one on the outside. They were engraved with a small chisel and contain dashed lines. The two buildings on the inner surface, one of feasting and the other of ritual shooting, have many similarities (figs. 1.4, 1.5). Each is raised on a flat timber-frame platform supported by wooden columns that anticipate the pingzuo (timber substructure) of later periods. The architecture of the feasting scene is better preserved: below the core building is the flat platform that is supported by eaves columns and one interior column to support the ground floor. The top of the floor is covered by two horizontal bands of rectangles, with the only difference from the previous examples being that here every other rectangle is filled with diagonal lines. On the left and right sides of the platform are stairs with six steps, each leading to the hall on top. This hall has only two eaves columns, no interior columns, and the columns bulge outward to the left and right sides at the top, indicating the use of brackets or timu to support the roof above. The roof consists of downward-sloping sides with a flat top in the center. The flat section is shown as two bands of rectangles in which empty areas alternate with diagonally hatched areas; the same design is used to represent floor construction. The sloping eaves are filled with diagonal lines. Rectangular cells clustered into an L-shape under the eaves may denote the balustrade. Two bronze vases are inside the hall, and a tripod is under one eave. Figures serve food and wine. A frame for hanging bells is set up on the right platform next to a drum with a bird-shaped frame; people dance to the music. Trees are visible on the left of the platform, where someone shoots birds with a bow and arrow (fig. 1.4). The building for archery ritual also stands on a flat platform supported by columns on both sides, but in contrast to figure 1.4, there are only exterior columns (fig. 1.5). Here, too, the floor is shown as two bands of rectangles where empty areas alternate with diagonally hatched areas. The hall proper has only two eaves columns. Although the part above them is not clear, we discern two bands of rectangles and assume, since they are like the ones in figure 1.4, they are of the same form and construction. Rectangular cells clustered into the stepped form of an L-shape are depicted under the eaves and denote the balustrade; but here their lower edges are level with the floor slabs, not higher as in the previous image. Vessels are set up inside the hall. In the central bay, wine is poured into one with a ladle. On either side, kneeling figures offer wine. Stairs on both sides of the platform lead to the top. To the right, two bowmen are about to climb the stairs. A large bronze vessel stands on the ground to the left of the platform. Here, too, a figure ladles out food while another one holds a vessel in both hands to receive it. A third figure carries another vessel and will ascend the steps to offer food.
The third image is engraved onto the outer surface of the cup. A low pingzuo comprises three rows of short columns, each indicated by a short column on the front (fig. 1.6). They uphold the flat platform floor that consists of two horizontal bands of rectangles. Atop are a large hall with two interior columns to bear the load of the flat roof and two exterior columns to support the downward-sloping eaves. Two bands of rectangles represent the flat roof, but in contrast to the engravings on the inner surface, in this image the two rows of rectangles, for the floor and the roof, are not aligned with each other. Furthermore, the sloping eaves display roof tiles in rows. Structural members like brackets or timu are placed on top of the eaves and interior columns. Zigzag stairs and L-shaped balustrades are on the left and right sides of the hall. A figure sits inside the hall drinking, and three other figures offer wine and food. A long table and two wine vessels are at the foot of the right staircase, where a figure spoons out wine into another vessel. A large vessel and four figures holding smaller vessels are on the opposite side.
There are many similarities in the representations of architecture in these three images on the vessel in the Shanghai Museum. A wooden pingzuo — be it high or low — is placed below the building proper, whose floor is upheld by the pingzuo columns. The hall itself has exterior columns and sometimes also has interior columns. The column shafts are decorated with a repeating cross-hatch pattern. Bracket sets or timu are mounted on the column tops. The roof consists of a flat top framed by downward-sloping sides. One building has rows of tiles. Balustrades are shown next to the platform edges and are L-shaped. The two images on the inner surface have balustrades that float in the air above the staircases on either side of the platform, which is unusual.
Bronze Dish and Mirror from Zhenjiang
A Warring States dish unearthed from an Eastern Zhou tomb in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, has two images of buildings with banqueting figures engraved with short, wedge-shaped lines on its inner surface (fig. 1.7). The first building has two stories. Its lower level features two exterior columns and sloping waist-eaves with a flat roof that is depicted as a band of rectangles like the roof of a single-story building. Atop the eaves are T-shaped and L-shaped sections that are filled with diagonal lines to represent the cross-sections of beams. The floor of the upper story is above. A one-bay arcade encloses either side of the second floor of the hall, spanning the distance between two columns. Balustrades are installed at the sides of the outer gallery. Between the two interior columns are beams that bear the weight of the roof. The roof is either hipped or a truncated pyramid. The first-floor eaves are filled with a diagonal hatched-line pattern, and the second-floor roof has widely spaced parallel lines that indicate the rows of roof tiles. As a whole, the structure looks like two single-story buildings on top of each other. A wine vessel in the center of the second floor also is shown in section. Four figures are on the first floor (fig. 1.7-1).
The second image depicts a one-story building with a basement that is supported by two columns with balustrades at the outer sides and stairs to ascend to the main hall. The eaves of the hall are one bay deep, with two columns each that support an additional set of lower eaves. The actual roof starts right above the lower eaves. Parallel lines indicate the roof is made of ceramic tiles in contrast to the lower eaves, which are made with diagonal lines. This is the only example among those examined here of a double-eaves building, asopposed to one with two stories, each with its own set of eaves, known from the Warring States period (fig. 1.7-2).
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Traditional Chinese Architecture by Fu Xinian, Nancy S. Steinhardt, Alexander Harrer. Copyright © 2017 Princeton University Press. Excerpted by permission of PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS.
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Table of Contents
List of Illustrations viiPreface xv
Editor’s Note xvii
Chronology of Chinese Dynasties xxi
Map of China xxiii
Biography of Fu Xinian 傅熹年 xxv
1 Representations of Architecture on Vessels of the Warring States Period 1
2 Reconstruction of Northern Dynasties Buildings Based on Relief Sculpture and Murals in Cave-Temples at Maijishan 31
3 Early Buddhist Architecture in China 79
4 The Development of Timber-Frame Architecture during the Two Jins and the Northern and Southern Dynasties 97
5 Architectural Features of the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Sui and Tang Periods in China as Reflected in Japanese Architecture of the Asuka and Nara Periods 140
6 Hanyuan Hall at Daminggong in Tang Chang’an 167
7 The Module in Tang Architecture 209
8 Imperial Architecture of Tang through Ming and Its Relation to Other Architecture 226
9 The Problem of Pillar Displacement with Respect to the Characteristics of Song Construction 253
10 Song Architecture in South China and Its Relation to Japanese Great Buddha–Style Architecture of the Kamakura Period 273
11 Northern Song Architecture in the Painting A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains by Wang Ximeng 296
12 Typical Design Features of Ming Palaces and Altars in Beijing 315
Glossary 349
Index 375
What People are Saying About This
"Fu Xinian is one of the most important scholars of Chinese architecture, and this English translation of his essays is a major contribution to the field. This work will be welcomed by students of global architectural traditions as well as those interested in the history, art history, architectural history, and material culture of China."—Tracy Miller, Vanderbilt University"One of the most eminent Chinese architectural historians of his times, Fu Xinian's work has decisively shaped how the field has developed since the 1980s. Fu, more than any other scholar of his generation, has broadened the scope of the history of China's building tradition to what we understand it to be today. The essays in this collection are thoughtful and useful, the translations are superb, and the range and depth of the discussions are unprecedented." —Wei-Cheng Lin, University of Chicago